As reported last week, the Massachusetts Motorcycle Association, working in conjunction with MMA Gold Card Member, Attorney Paul Lancia, and several Motorcyclists who’ve chosen to fight for their rights and yours following citations issued in the town of Sterling last summer, went to court and won a number of cases pertaining to those citations. Yesterday, the remainder of the cases were scheduled to be heard, and ALL cases have now been found “not responsible”.

The Sterling and Princeton Police Departments, in a sudden realization of doing what’s right, decided not to pursue the remainder of the cases since they realized after the previous hearings they had no legal grounds for the citations. In order to save the taxpayers money and not further waste their department’s time, the Princeton Police Department didn’t even send representation to today’s hearings.

With Judge Gardener presiding, Attorney Lancia, representing the riders in cooperation with the MMA requested that all citations be dismissed. Most of today’s cases dealt with citations issued for “altered exhaust systems”, although a couple also included other minor equipment infractions such as head and tail lights or tire treads. All citations were dismissed, some in agreement with the Sterling Police, others not prosecuted by the Sterling Police.

Attorney Lancia stated that he was pleased with the findings by the Court and commended the Judge for giving these riders the court time and judicial deliberation they deserved. "These riders took valuable time out of work to contest these citations rather than letting it go. Their concise testimony and the legal arguments we advanced gave the Judge the information needed upon which to base these ‘Not Responsible’ findings. I am happy that these riders won't have to deal with the insurance surcharges that a responsible finding would have brought."

In Massachusetts, a moving violation typically results in a surcharge of an average $300 per year for 6 years.

The MMA remains committed to education, not legislation, and not prosecution. We will help inform our members of the laws concerning proper equipment in Massachusetts, and asks all riders to ride responsibly.